Value Engineering

The definition of Value Engineering varies slightly depending on who you talk to or what reference materials you use:

Investopedia

“Value engineering is a systematic and organized approach to providing the necessary functions in a project at the lowest cost. Value engineering promotes the substitution of materials and methods with less expensive alternatives, without sacrificing functionality. It is focused solely on the functions of various components and materials, rather than their physical attributes.”

Cambridge Dictionary

“the process of reducing the cost of producing a product without reducing it’s quality or how effective it is”

For us, Value Engineering is less about theory and more about practice. Whether we are involved in the preparation of a specification for a new project; consulting on a project already specified; or even just providing a carefully prepared tender / quote, we will always consider opportunities for alternative products and solutions.

These alternatives are often about generating cost savings, but not always. Sometimes we can offer options to reduce installation time or create better aesthetics. Some examples of VE options that we have offered are below.

Project A

530m2 project which had been specified with PIR Tapered Insulation. By replacing this with a hybrid tapered insulation, achieving the same required u-value, we were able to save our client approx. £6,000 on our costs.

Project B

Specified as zinc standing seam cladding to be installed over marine ply sheet. By offering single ply standing seam to imitate the zinc cladding, we were able to achieve the same aesthetic result at less than half of the cost. The square metre cost was reduced from £200 to £90.

Project C

Our client came to us with a project that had been designed with aluminium cappings which had been priced at £60 – £80 per lineal metre.  We offered the option of fully encapsulating the parapet in single ply and finishing with a membrane coated drip edge trim.  Our VE option not only achieves the same aesthetic finish, but also provides a better seal and reduces the cost to £10 – £15 per lineal metre.

Project D

This project came to us with a plywood deck to be installed flat and tapered insulation to create falls to the drainage outlets.  By omitting tapered insulation and installing the plywood deck to falls with flat insulation, a saving of between £30 – £50 per m2 was achievable.